SuperSport United beat Cape Town City at Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium on Saturday to move up to second in the DStv Premiership.
Cape Town — Hosts SuperSport United moved up into second place on the DStv Premiership standings after a well-taken 2-0 win over the visiting Cape Town City at Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium, in Atteridgeville, on Saturday evening.
After Richards Bay FC lost to Swallows FC on Friday night, SuperSport needed just two points to leapfrog the Natal Rich Boys to move into the second Champions League slot on the standings. With 32 points, SuperSport are one point ahead of Richards Bay and a whopping 23 points behind runaway log-leaders Mamelodi Sundowns. SuperSport, however, have two games in hand.
The defeat means City will drop into 10th place and the setback will harm their Top 8 aspirations.
Although City enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, SuperSport managed their game better without the ball and made their lone first-half shot on target count with a well-taken goal in the 18th minute.
The goal came after a mistake in the City defence who lost possession on the fringe of their penalty area. The stray was picked by SuperSport and Siyabonga Nhlapo laid on a timely pass out wide to the unmarked Thapelo Maseko. In true textbook style, the attacking midfielder Maseko cracked the ball from an acute angle across the face of the goals and past Darren Keet, the City keeper for a superb goal.
Once City lost possession, their defence was hopelessly out of position and SuperSport showed great presence of mind to relay the ball out to the 20-year-old scorer Maseko who made a return to the team’s starting line-up.
SuperSport’s central midfielders Siphesihle Ndlovu and Grant Margeman were playing superbly in the engine room. They were effective on the defensive and attacking fronts.
In the first half, City managed several entries into the final third without creating real scoring opportunities, and as a result, only one of nine shots at goal was on target.
The other first-half statistic that points to SuperSport’s attacking intent was the nine fouls by City.
Maseko repaid coach Gavin Hunt’s place in him as did Zakhele Lepasa who was acquired on loan from Orlando Pirates a few days ago. Defender Lepasa showed some neat touches but looked a bit rusty after he warmed the bench more often than not at Pirates in recent weeks.
As the second half wore on, City continued to dominate but did not threaten the opposition’s defence. Instead, SuperSport came closer to scoring in the opening stages of the second half and seemed at ease while soaking up the pressure in the closing stages.
In the final minute of the game, Darwin Gonzalez scored a bizarre own goal to give SuperSport an unassailable 2-0 lead.
